What The Future Holds
by castlefan1214
Summary: She's torn between the opportunity of a lifetime and the man she loves. What will she choose? What does the future hold for Castle & Beckett? My take on the Season 5 finale. Two-shot.
1. Coming Clean

**So, like everyone here.. Caskett at the swings sent me into a whole bunch of emotions & crazy theory building in my imagination so I decided to write a fic about it.. enjoy! (:**

**Disclaimer: Seriously? If I owned them, they would be on a Honeymoon on a Tropical Island making Little Castle Babies. But no, Marlowe likes angsty Caskett. :(**

* * *

It's a warm April day, birds chirping and the sun shining brightly across the Manhattan skyline. Any other day, Detective Kate Beckett would have called it a normal day.. Waking up with Castle at 5am because there's been a murder, running down leads all day, interrogating suspects, and listening to Castle's crazy theories that deep down inside, she secretly loved. But today was not a normal day. The FBI & Homeland Security had taken over their murder case, and she really did not want to deal with them today. It was only two weeks ago that she had received a call from the FBI headquarters in downtown Manhattan wanting to interview her for a possible job offer. She knew that they would approach her about the job offer since it was the day the Agent, (Andrews it was?) told her she would be getting the news about whether she got the job or not. Maybe they would call during the day with the news, either way.. she sent Castle home to avoid him finding out about it. She didn't want to tell Castle right away because she was afraid of it turning into a fight about her not telling him, and it was stupid to say something if she didn't even end up getting the job. No, she wouldn't tell him just yet. So she made up an excuse that she was going shopping with Lanie that afternoon, and went to the interview.

She knew that she had to tell him, it was bothering her to be keeping a secret from him.. her mind drifted back to the last time they kept secrets, they had an angsty fight, he said he was done and she almost died. She wouldn't think about that right now, he would understand why she had kept this secret from him. It wouldn't turn into a huge argument, after all they are healthy and alive and there's not someone out there wanting to kill her. They would be fine, _wouldn't they?_

Her father's words were etched in her mind from earlier that morning when they went out for breakfast, a routine they had grown accustomed to over the years, "Katie, if he really loves you he would support you no matter what, don't be stressing yourself out over the fact that you're keeping it a secret from him. Don't think of it as necessarily a secret, do you remember when you told me that he got a possible deal for writing his next three books on a 'Certain British Secret Agent,' James Bond. He wouldn't say the name because it would be a jinx, its just like you won't tell him because you don't want him to get his hopes up. Your mother used to tell you whenever you didn't know what to do in a situation,"Katie, follow your dreams, if it feels right to you, do it.' Then after you overcame the situation, she would end it with her famous, 'I told you so.' Point is, don't worry about the bad what if's, think about the good what if's.

She knew that her father was right, she needed to stop stressing out over it. She could almost hear her mother say, 'I told you so.' Letting out a laugh, she thought back to all the moments she hated hearing that word, right now she would give anything to hear her mother say that one more time. Then Roy's words played in her head, "I've spent most of my life walking behind this badge, and I can tell you this for a fact... there are no victories, there's only the battle. And the best that you could hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand. If this is your spot, I will stand with you."

She only hoped Castle would stand with her. Making up her mind, she dialed her speed dial #1. After three rings, she finally heard his voice.

"Hey."

_"Hey, whats up?"_

"Just wondering if we can meet at the park, by the swings?"

_"Uh, yeah of course, I was just doing some writing.. I can be there in 10 minutes? Is everything alright? Are you alright?"_

She rolled her eyes, it was just like Castle to be asking her these questions.

"Yes Castle, everything is fine, I'm fine. 10 minutes sounds great."

He knew she was rolling her eyes through the phone at his questions, it was a classic Beckett mannerism.

_"Alright, see you in 10."_

"Bye, Castle."

"_Bye, Kate."_

Sighing, she hung up the phone and pulled out of her parking space at the 12th and began the drive to the park.

* * *

After his phone call with Kate asking to meet at the park, he knew something was off with her.. she had even been acting odd since about 2 weeks ago, but she shrugged it off like it was nothing.. 'I guess she's going to tell me what's going on today.' he mused. Closing his laptop and moving it onto his desk, he got up and retrieved his keys to his Mercedes, his jacket & his cell phone. Putting on his jacket and his shoes, he went out the door and down to the parking garage to get in his car and drive to the park.

When Kate arrived at the park, she could see Castle sitting on the swings, the same swings she was at 1 year ago when she made the decision that changed their lives. The same swings they were at together for the first time 2 years ago, three months after no communication. She suddenly got anxious of how his reaction would be, she sat in her car for a few more minutes until she built up the courage to realize that she was being stupid and she needed get her ass out of that car and go talk to her boyfriend. It was time to come clean. She pulled her keys out of the ignition, clicked off her seat belt and got out of the car. Locking her car doors she began to walk towards Castle sitting on a swing, god he really is really ruggedly handsome and s_exy too. _She could just see his reaction if she told him that, it would make his already big ego even bigger.

Castle noticed Kate walking towards him, she had a look on her face that he couldn't make out. Was it sadness? Anxiousness? A mix of both? He was snapped out of his reverie by her voice.

"Hey."

"Oh. Hey, so what did you want to talk about?"

"There's something I need to tell you." Kate said as she sat down on the other swing, facing opposite him.

"Okay.. go ahead and tell me." Castle smiled, hearing a little anxiousness in her voice.

"I.. I uh got a job offer." Kate says looking at him in the eyes.

"Thats amazing! I knew Gates would promote you, it was only a matter of time." Excitement comes out of Castle's voice.

"That's the thing.. it wasn't Gates, its not actually even a job offer at the 12th, its an FBI offer.."

"The FBI?" Kate nods, looking down.. unable to meet his eyes.

"Wow, that's huge, it's what every cop dreams of isn't it? Is that where you were this morning, at an interview?" Castle replies with a mix of confusedness and happiness in his voice.

"I uh.. no actually, I was at breakfast with my dad." Kate says, still looking down.

"Oh right, I remember you do that often now. Kate, how long?" Castle says, looking straight at her for an answer, disappointment visible in his voice.

"Two weeks. They came to me after the case when I protected Vaughn. Apparently word got out how impressed Vaughn was with me and he recommended me to the feds. Today I got the call about whether the job offer was official or not.." She finally looks up at him in the eyes.

"And.. what did they say?" Castle replies a bit annoyed that he didn't hear about it earlier.

"They said the offer was on the table.. But I have to make my decision fast because they also have someone else that is up for the job as well." Kate replies, looking down to focus on the hangnail on her thumb, anything but Castle's face.

"Oh.. are you really considering it?" Castle asks looking straight ahead, his lips in a thin line.

"Yeah, Castle I really am. You're right, it is every cop's dream. I've worked homicide for a little over 10 years now and although I do love it.. I'm not getting any younger here, you know? They said I could start six months of a trial period in either Washington or in San Francisco." Kate says looking at him.

"How could you not tell me? I mean.. this is a _huge _deal. It's a one-in-a-million job opportunity, Kate. This is the freaking _FBI._ And it's Washington & San Francisco. What would happen to us? Did you even think about us at all? We could have talked about this, Kate." Castle replies anger evident in his voice now.

"I'm sorry Castle, I just didn't want you to get mad because I didn't tell you and then it ended up that I didn't even get the job.." Kate says, looking at Castle with sadness.

"Yeah, yeah I know. But it doesn't matter if you didn't end up getting it, what matters is that you shared it with me, but you didn't, Kate. And that hurts. I thought our relationship was stronger than that, that we could tell each other anything. Hell, I thought we knew each other better than that." Castle replies, looking at her straight in the eyes, searching for some sort of response from her.

Castle just stares back at Kate, trying to get some sort of response out of her but nothing is coming out.

"Let me ask you this, Kate. What do you want? Do you see a future with me? Do you _want _a future with me? Because I do. I see the whole nine yards, Marriage, kids, white picket fence house, you being Alexis' stepmother officially, my daughter idolises you, Kate. She already sees you as a mother, she's confided in you at times when she couldn't confide in me, when she needed advice, she came to you. I see us growing old and gray together, but do you want that Kate? If you take that job, we could still do that, absolutely. But it would definitely be a different lifestyle. Do you remember Jordan Shaw during the Dunn Case? She misses birthdays.. she gets home at ungodly hours in the morning, she doesn't get to see her husband and daughter at nighttime nor as much as she would like to. Is that the kind of lifestyle you want? I mean.. yes the FBI is a huge career opportunity, but is it worth it?" Castle states honestly, hoping that Kate would see where he's coming from and that he's all in.

"I.. I don't know. Yes, I do want a future with you but I also want this career opportunity. It's huge for me. I don't want you to feel like I didn't think about us at all. Because I did. I thought about how it would affect everyone, the boys, they're like brothers to me. Martha and Alexis, they feel like my family. And you, of course. You've stood by me, always. Even when I was wrong.. four years, you've been my partner, you've been my friend. And now you're my boyfriend, and my partner. A year now. We've been together a whole year, its been amazing.. you've been amazing. After that bomb scare, when you distracted me and we started talking about how far we've came, how we got to be where we are now. And I finally got to say 'I love you' to you. That was a huge thing for me, I've only been in one serious relationship, and only told it to one man other than my father, and that was Will. And to be honest Castle, I kind of feel like how Will did when he had to make the choice between me or the FBI in Boston. I've been stuck in a rut for a long time with my job, and I really think this job will be great for me, but I don't want to feel bad if I take it." Kate replies, looking straight at Castle, she knows that he's angry with her and she also knew this was coming.

Castle gets up from the swing and stands, looking at Kate he says, "Make your choice, Kate. I don't want an 'I don't know', I want a honest answer.. I'm all in. You know, when you asked me where we were going that night after the Vaughn case was closed, I knew what you actually meant, where we were going in our relationship. I was afraid to tell you because I thought I'd scare you off, but now you know. So Kate, what do you want? Take a hard look at everything and if you see a future with me, that's great, I'll stand with you every step of the way. And well.. if you don't then maybe it just wasn't in the cards for us. I'll see you later Kate, make your decision." He starts to get tears in his eyes halfway through his statement, realizing the actual truth of what she sees in the future.

She just stares at him, a blank expression on her face.. trying to take all of what he said in, did he really think that she didn't want a future with him? How could he think that, after all they've been through and how much in love they are. Maybe she went about the situation wrong, thinking everything was going to be peachy when she dropped the news on him. Well, she was wrong, it was not peachy at all.

"Rick!" She calls, tears pooling in her eyes.

He turns to face her, tears pooling in his eyes as well.

"I'll call you later, you need some time to think." He says in a low whisper, she could barely hear him.

He turns to leave once again, a look of sadness and disappointment on his face, feeling the square blue velvet box in his pocket, the box holding a Tiffany's engagement ring.

And now she had a major decision to make.

What did the future hold?

* * *

Love it? Hate it? If you guys like it, I will make this into a 2-shot with her decision (:

Please review! (:


	2. The Intervention

**So, the first chapter I posted got great feedback! In result, I am going to reward you the second part (: So I thought that a Ryan/Esposito/Lanie intervention was in order. I read the Press Release for 'Watershed' and included all the characters that were cast in the episode, so that it felt more realistic. I hope you like it, it's currently 3:30 am, took me all night to write it, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Is my name Andrew W. Marlowe? There's your answer.**

* * *

The next day...

Richard Castle awakened to the sun piercing through the bedroom drapes, groaning and wincing in response to the light. The memories of yesterday coming back to him, suddenly feeling his head pounding, had he gotten drunk last night? He couldn't remember anything after he left the park and went back to the loft and poured himself a drink. Might have been more than one.. he mused. Pushing himself out of bed, he opened his bedroom door, went past his study and the living room to the kitchen, where he found his mother sitting on a stool at the island.

"Richard, darling you look like hell." Martha said looking at her son's disheveled state.

"Thank you, captain obvious." Castle replied sitting down next to his mother, shutting his eyes and putting his head in his hands.

"Richard, what happened to you? Only one woman can make you act like this. Here, let me make you the hangover cure." Martha stated, concerned for her son.

"No mother, that won't be necessary. Just some aspirin and a glass of water, please and I don't want to talk about it. Castle said, watching his mother as she got him the asprin and a glass of water. He was trying to convince himself that this wasn't happening and that yesterday's events were all a dream.

"Stop wallowing, Richard and go fix this, I cannot stand to see you like this. Now, I don't know what happened with you and Katherine but you need to talk to that girl." Martha said as she gave Castle the aspirin and glass of water, her concern only worsening.

Castle quickly popped the aspirin into his mouth and downed the glass of water then said, "She got a job offer. For the FBI, in Washington or San Francisco. And she's really considering taking it. I asked her where that leaves us and what she wants for us in the coming future and she said she didn't know while I said I wanted the whole package with her. Marriage, kids.. everything. You know mother, your words stuck with me.. I've had a ring for awhile now, I was going to propose but what's the point of it now?" Castle said, clearly not wanting to deal with Beckett right now.

Martha put a comforting hand on her son's shoulder and said, "Oh, Richard.. y-" only to be cut off by Castle's phone ringtone playing in his study.

"I'll be right back, mother." Castle acknowledged the sound and went to his study to take the call.

"Castle."

"Yo, its Espo."

"What's up?"

"Bro, Beckett didn't come in today, and obviously you aren't here either."

"Oh.. well... uhh" Castle said struggling to reply.

"Whatever is going on with you and Beckett you can tell us, man." Ryan said.

"Yeah, I know I'm just not feeling up to it, thanks for your concern though." Castle said then hung up.

"Something is going on here, bro. That's not like Castle at all and Beckett never misses a day of work not even when she's sick, which is rare even for Beckett." Esposito said, obviously concerned for his friends.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ryan said

"Yep, right behind you bro." Esposito said with a grin.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kate Beckett had been up all night, most of the night sobbing and the other half trying to figure out what to do but she was getting nowhere. She was refusing to drink coffee because it reminded her of Castle and all she wanted was for him to be wrapping his arms around her right now and she wasn't going to drown herself in alcohol, she couldn't do that. Not after her father's experience and the promise she made to herself to never revert to alcohol no matter how bad things got.

She pushed herself off her couch, opening her styrofoam temple as Castle called it. No. She wasn't going to think about Castle right now or she was going to start crying like she did before. There was nothing in her fridge except for a chilled bottle of wine, some strawberry yogurt, eggs that were most likely spoiled, a couple water bottles and of course.. takeout boxes. She did hate grocery shopping and she was at Castle's loft pretty much every day.

Hearing a knock on the door, she sighed and went to answer it. _Please don't be Castle. Please don't be Castle. Not ready for another argument. I don't want to see him. _She mused.

"Lanie?" Beckett stood there relieved to see her friend but also surprised as to why she was there.

"Good morning to you too, Kate." Lanie pushed her way through the door and into Beckett's apartment in typical Lanie fashion.

"I come bearing tea and pastries. I know you probably can't look at coffee right now due to your current state and I know what the meaning of coffee to you is, so tea will have to do, after all, I do hate coffee." Lanie said as she held up the bag as she took in her friend's appearance, she had red puffy eyes like she had been crying, her makeup was smudged all over her eyes, if you didn't know better you'd say she had a black eye, her once curly hair was now a tangled mess pulled back into a no effort ponytail on the back of her head, she had on a large t-shirt, obviously way too big for her slim figure, it was probably Castle's. and baggy sweatpants, probably Castle's as well.

"H..how? Thank you for the breakfast Lanie, but we both know you're not here to bring me tea and pastries, cut the crap.. if you're here to talk to me, it's not going to do any good so what do you want?" Beckett replied, already knowing what Lanie wanted from her.

Lanie sighed and put the contents of the bag on Kate's island and said, "Javier and Kevin called me.. said you didn't come in today so I got worried 'bout my girl, I figured it must be pretty bad for you not to come into work and I know that you most likely would not drink coffee, and I was right. So what's going on with you and writer boy?" Lanie half-lied, not mentioning Castle's disheveled state.

"I don't want to talk about it.." Beckett stated, her tone coming out a little harsher then she intended to.

"Sorry Lane.. I'm just in a bad mood right now, I might not be much company." Beckett said, not too sure on where this was gonna go.

"Honey, that's why I'm here. To help you, I don't care if you don't want to talk about it.. you're gonna." Lanie stated, not taking any bullshit.

Beckett knew there was no getting around this and looked at Lanie with a look that said fine-you-got-your-way.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I swear to god.. if Castle did something to hurt Beckett-" Esposito said in a icy tone.

"Dude, chill out we don't even know what happened, all we know is that Lanie is at Beckett's right now talking to her and she's going to text us with updates so we can compare their stories and get to the bottom of this. Now lets go find out what happened in Castle's opinion." Ryan cut him off.

"Woah, when did you get so wordy? You're like a Castle clone." Esposito replied laughing.

"Shut up. If anything, you're a Beckett clone!" Ryan retorted.

"Well we call 'em Mom and Dad for a reason don't we?" Esposito said.

Ryan opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to say something but nothing came out.

"Told ya." Esposito looked at his partner with a snicker.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Lanie, no.. I am not apologizing to him. He needs to apologize to me! Why do I need to apologize to him when he was the one who..." Kate trailed off unable to come up with a reason why Castle needed to apologize and what Castle did wrong.

"My point, girl. I'm a little pissed that you didn't even tell me. Hell, did you even tell Javier and Kevin? Did you even tell anyone?" Lanie said, trying not to show her hurt that Kate didn't even bother to tell her best friends.

"Ooh it's Javier now is it?" Kate replied, cracking a little smile at Lanie.

"Nuh uh, girl you don't get to make this about me, this here, (Lanie did a little movement with her hand) .. is about you. Don't twist it around." Lanie retorted.

"Fiiinee. I know, Lanie. I'm sorry but like I said I didn't want to make a big deal out of it when I could end up not even getting the job. Yeah, I did.. I told my dad." Beckett replied, starting to feel bad about keeping the secret.

"I'm glad you told someone, cause girl my big mouth couldn't keep a secret that big for two weeks." Lanie said.

"What if he doesn't forgive me Lanie? What if this is the end of us?" Kate replied, her voice starting to crack and her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

"Oh honey..." Lanie put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, and used her other hand to read her text on her phone that was currently buzzing, "It's the morgue, hold on." Lanie lied and quickly texted Esposito an update.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Richard Castle is trying to make sense of this situation, trying to understand why Beckett would do this. He tried to distract himself, writing, vacuuming, rearranging his books, doing the laundry, now he was currently making a smorelette when there was a knock on the door.

He moved to the front door to open it for whoever was there. _Please don't be Beckett. Please don't be Beckett. She doesn't need to see me like this. I'm not ready to talk to her._ He mused.

He opened the door to reveal Ryan and Esposito.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" A confused Castle said.

"Okay, first off.. you look like hell dude. And we are here to get to the bottom of you and Beckett." Ryan replied as he and Esposito pushed past Castle to enter the loft.

"Ugh, thank you. I already heard that this morning, from my mother. And I don't know what you guys are talking about but Beckett and I are fine." Castle said, trying to muster a convincing tone. He closed the door and joined the boys in the living room.

"You guys are not fine. You can't fool detectives." Esposito replied.

"Yeah you can't, us detectives detect stuff from far far away, we can detect anything from a detectable place." Ryan said, looking at Esposito and said, "Good?"

"Bro, no just no." Esposito replied shaking his head at his partner.

"Shit, I'm not gonna get out of this." Castle muttered under his breath as he motioned for them to start asking him questions.

"Heard that." Ryan said.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Kate, honey let me ask you this, do you love him? Beckett nodded.

"Do you want to keep fighting with him and keeping secrets?" Beckett shook her head.

"Do you want to leave your job, your family, yes I mean Alexis and Martha along with your dad. Those redheads adore you! your friends, your boyfriend, the place where you've been your whole life, for a job that you might not even end up liking miles and miles away?" Lanie stated, hoping for the answer to be no.

"I know I don't want to... but this job is something.. I don't even know how to explain it. I never wanted to be a cop, this wasn't my career plan. My career plan was a lawyer. But the FBI is different, I don't want to leave but then I do. God Lanie, I'm so damn confused! Beckett replied as she put her head in her hands.

_This girl is a hell of a stubborn one. Ooh I have the perfect idea!_ Lanie mused. "Alright sweetie, why don't you go clean yourself up and take a shower, you stink girl. And we'll go to the park to clear your head.. alright?" Lanie said, hopeful for a positive attitude.

"Getting out of here sounds great, but the park? That's where it happened.

I-"

"Are you telling me that Katherine Beckett, badass homicide detective is scared of the park?" Lanie said with a snicker.

"No! Of course not. Fine.. fine, I'll go." Kate retorted as she held her hands up in surrender and turned around and went into her bathroom to take a shower and get ready.

"Now that's more like it." Lanie said to herself with a smile and reached over for Beckett's phone, unlocking it and going to her contacts.. looking for a certain number. She found it and dialed Beckett's dad's number, _she had a plan._ She mused, _now just gotta wait for news on writer boy. _

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"What?! A job offer?! Dude, she didn't tell me either. Did she tell you?" Ryan said and looked at Esposito.

Esposito shook his head, "No, she didn't. I'm with you guys man, this sucks. But we all know Beckett too well.. she won't just pack up and leave." Esposito stated.

"I know, I asked her if she thought about what it would do to us and she said she did.. It just made me so angry because she knows us, she's known us for years.. you guys more than me, but still.. she couldn't find the decency to tell us. Two weeks she kept the secret. Two weeks and she didn't even tell anyone other than her dad. I love her, I had this whole surprise planned for her. I was going to do it yesterday but then she dropped the bombshell on me. It was going to be perfect, Alexis was giving me the encouragement to do it, she's been my little helper." Castle said, his voice breaking slightly.

"Wait.. what surprise?" Ryan asked curiously as Esposito eyed Castle closely.

Castle got up off the couch and went into his study, going around to behind his desk, opening the bottom drawer and pulling out the velvet box hidden behind papers, where he had put it after he returned from the park yesterday.

He went back to the living room and placed the box onto the coffee table, motioning to his friends to open it.

Esposito looked at Castle with a look that says oh-no-i-know-what's-in-there. He grabbed the box and opened it.

"Jesus fucking Christ, that's a beautiful ring!" Ryan exclaimed as he looked at the 2.5 carat Tiffany Novo Engagement ring.

"Dude, are you sure you aren't gay?" Esposito said with a snicker.

"I'm married! To a woman!" Ryan retorted.

"Whatever. Castle, Man Beckett is gonna love it." Esposito said as he smiled and closed the box and put it in Castle's hands.

"Yeah, you mean was going to love it." Castle said sadly and looked down at the box in his hands.

"What? You mean you're not going to propose?" A concerned Ryan said.

"I don't see the damn point. She's going to go miles and miles away anyway." Castle replied as he spit out the words.

Esposito's phone started buzzing,"It's Gates, I gotta go take this." He lied.

Castle and Ryan nodded and Esposito went into Castle's study and closed the door.

"Hey Chica. Read your text, mom and dad are both stubborn son of a bitches."

"Oh Javier, believe me I know. Now me and Kate are going to the park and her dad is gonna meet us there, do you think you and Kevin can get Castle to come and have someone else meet us there too?"

"Yep, I'll shoot little Castle and Mrs. R texts. Castle started rambling 'bout how she helped encourage him to propose."

"HE WAS GONNA PROPOSE?!" Lanie screamed.

"SHHH! Keep your voice down.. don't want Beckett and Castle to hear. Yes, yes he was gonna propose yesterday. The guy is a mess. Poor man, I'm guessin' Beckett is the same?"

"Good lord, these two have awful timing. Yep my girl is the same way. Moping around and feelin' sorry for herself. Well hopefully when we are all at the park, he will propose if there ain't a big nasty screamin' match."

"Me too, me too. Ryan and I are working on it."

"You better be. Because Javier Pepe Esposito, if there isn't a proposal, Imma slap you."

"How many times have I told you to never. use. my. middle. name. again. ! See you at the park in 10, chica."

"Bye Javi."

"Bye Lanie."

After Lanie hung up, Esposito shot Alexis and Martha quick texts and opened the door and went back to the living room where Ryan and Castle were waiting.

"Alright man, you need to get out of here. Lets go to the park. And bring the ring with you, hopefully it'll change your mind." Esposito said.

"Yeah comon dude, go change and meet us back here." Ryan said and put a hand on Castle's shoulder.

"Fine, lets go. I'll be out in five, but how will me bringing the ring make me change my mind?" Castle replied.

Esposito shot him a death glare, "Alright, alright.. I'm going." Castle said, holding his hands up in surrender and turning on his heel to get ready.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Beckett and Lanie were out the door in record time, walking to the park in silence in the beautiful Manhattan spring air. Lanie quickly eyed Beckett's dad sitting on a bench not too far away from them, looking towards him and giving him a look that says come-here-and-talk-to-your-daughter.

Jim quickly eyed his daughter and Lanie. As he was walking towards them.. he noticed the look on his daughters face, she looked so heartbroken. He hated seeing her like that.

"Katie!" Jim greeted his daughter.

"Hey dad!" Beckett walked up to her dad and hugged him. "What are you doing here?" She said.

"Can't a father come and talk to his daughter?" Jim replied smiling.

"Lanie.. did you do this and did you tell him?" Beckett shot her friend her classic glare.

Lanie opened her mouth about to reply, but Jim beat her to it. "Katie, she means well."

"I'll be.. over there." Lanie said pointing to a bench near the swings and smiling as she left father and daughter alone.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Castle, Ryan and Esposito walked to the park in silence as well.

"Hello Richard! Hello Dad!" Two voices boomed from behind them.

"Alexis! Mother!" What are you doing here? A surprised Castle said.

"We just wanted to chat with you for a bit, can we?" Alexis replied.

"Yeah, of course.. anything for my girls." Castle said, smiling.

"We'll leave you three alone. We'll be by that bench." Esposito said as he pointed to the bench.

"Thank you gentlemen!" Martha replied to Ryan and Esposito.

They nodded at Martha and left the Castle/Rodgers trio to talk.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Are you scared, Katie?" Jim asked his daughter.

"Well, I don't know.. but I don't want us to fall into ashes. I want to make this last, I want a future with him but I'm scared of it. There, I said it. Yes, I'm scared." Beckett replied.

"It's okay to be scared, Katie. I was scared once with your mother, believe me sweetheart, I know where you are coming from. But you cannot run away from it. Do you think that running away from it because you are scared is going to fix it? Taking a traveling job, having longer hours than you already have? Not being able to see each other every day, not waking up beside him every morning, not listening to his silliness, is that what you want? Are you willing to sacrifice everything?" Jim said, anxious of her reply.

"No,"I don't want that. I want to be with him every day, every hour, every minute, every second. It kills me when I don't see him." Beckett replied.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Jim asked.

"I'm going to decline that offer, apologize to him and get my man back." Beckett said, smiling.

Jim smiled. His daughter was a stubborn one, but somehow.. someway, she always finds the answers to whatever she is looking for.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Dad. Why aren't you going to propose? Your head over heels in love with Beckett!" Alexis said, a little disappointed.

"Because she doesn't feel the same way, I know she doesn't. She is going to go take that job and move on with her life and I might as well move on with mine." Castle said with his head down.

"Richard, you don't know that. Katherine is probably confused just like you are. Now did the girl say that she wanted a future with you? A family?" Martha said, her heart breaking for her son.

"She said she wanted it... Just like I did. But I don't think that she meant it." Castle replied, tucking his coat tighter into him.

"Dad! Richard!" The two redheads said in unison.

"Dad, have you ever known Detective Beckett to say something she didn't mean?" Alexis said.

"No." Castle replied.

Martha nodded. "I agree with Alexis. That woman wants it all with you. She's one of a kind. Do you love her?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Castle said with a smile, the first one in more than 15 hours.

"Then make it right, dad. Tell her you love her, give her a reason to stay. Make it right. Cause that box is burning a hole in your pocket there, dad." Alexis said with a smile.

They all laughed.

"When did my little girl get so wise? Seriously, Thank you guys. Yes, Alexis I will make it right. I'll propose to her. I will tell her I love her. I will give her a reason to stay. Mother, she is one of a kind, she's extraordinary." Castle said with happiness and a smile. He put his arms around both Alexis and Martha and pulled them close to him. They all smiled.

Just then, a voice got his attention. He looked straight ahead and he saw Katherine Beckett, walking on the grass with her father by the swings.

"Rick?" She whispered. She saw him on the sidewalk walking with both Alexis and Martha on each side of him.

"Kate?" He whispered.

"Go to her. Remember, make it right." Alexis smiled up at her father.

"Go, darling." Martha smiled.

"Remember Katie, no more running anymore. Go get your man." Jim said with a smile.

Castle & Beckett thanked their families for the encouragement and ran towards each other.

"Rick!" "Kate!" they both exclaimed.

Beckett leaped toward Castle and he caught her in his arms, and twirled her around.

"I'm so sorry, I love you Rick." Beckett said.

"I'm sorry too, I love you, so much, Kate." Castle replied.

Castle put Beckett down and their lips met together for a long, passionate kiss.

Lanie, Esposito, Ryan and Jim met Alexis and Martha on the sidewalk.

"Some pair, aren't they?" Martha said, smiling at her son, an idiot in love.

"That they are, Martha." Jim agreed, with a smile.

When they broke apart, they rested their foreheads together, arms on each other's waists.

"I'm not taking the job, I just want you. Only you. I want a family with you, I want everything with YOU." Beckett said.

"Really?" Castle replied, grinning.

Beckett nodded. "Well that means, now I can finally ask you this.." Castle said, taking a step back.

He got the velvet box out from his pocket and Beckett let out a gasp and so did everyone watching from the sidewalk.

He slowly got on one knee, hands shaking. To say he was nervous would be an understatement.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, from the moment we met.. I knew there was a unique spark between us, as I got to know you more and more.. the more I fell in love with you. I cannot see myself having a family, spending the rest of my life with someone other than you, will you do me the honor of being my wife and marry me? He presented the ring to her.

Beckett covered her mouth, tears rolling down her face, she said.. "Yes! Yes I will marry you!"

Castle let out a huge grin, took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her ring finger.

"It's beautiful, Rick." Beckett gasped when she saw the ring.

"Read the inside." He told her with a smile as he stood back up.

So she did. She twisted it off her finger and read the engraving, it read.. _Always._

She slipped it back onto her finger and cupped his cheek, tears coming again. And said, "It's beautiful, I love you."

"You're beautiful. And I love you too." He said as he kissed her again.

The whole gang burst out in congratulations and claps of excitement.

Hearing the noise, they broke the kiss and turned to their family and friends and laughed as they began to walk towards them.

As soon as they reached them, they were bombarded with hugs, congratulations, and 'I told you so's.'

Everyone high-fived each other and Ryan spoke up, "We make one hell of a great team don't we?"

"You bet we do!" Everyone said in agreement.

"Make a great team in what?" Castle and Beckett questioned, confused.

Jim laughed, "We'll tell you later, kiddos. Long story. Now how about Remy's to celebrate!"

Everyone cheered in agreement and they left the park to go to Remy's.

Castle & Beckett arm-in-arm, Lanie & Esposito arm-in-arm-, Jim & Martha arm-in-arm, and Alexis and Ryan arm-in-arm. They all chatted with each other as they made their way to Remy's to celebrate the newly engaged couple and their plan having been succeeded.

Nothing could break the three cops, the writer, the sassy ME, the two loving parents, and the daughter apart. Not even a one-in a-million job offer.

They were a big, loud, and happy dysfunctional family.

Nothing would ever change that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**THE END**

So? Did you like it? I had so much fun writing this! It was so fun to write all the different characters (:

Thank you so much for all the reviews and feedback on the first chapter!

Please let me know what you thought!


End file.
